IU Comes Back to Defeat Penn State and Advance to B1G Tournament Quarterfinals

Thursday, May 9

Bloomington, Ind.

6:20 p.m.

Indiana University

36-20

Penn State - First Round

24-32

Penn State

Indiana

IU Comes Back to Defeat Penn State and Advance to B1G Tournament Quarterfinals

5/9/2019 9:51:00 PM | Softball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – No. 7 seeded Indiana Softball battled back from an early 2-0 deficit, scoring four unanswered runs to defeat No. 10 seeded Penn State in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament on Thursday evening at Andy Mohr Field, 4-2. The Hoosiers advance to take on No. 2 seeded Northwestern Friday at 4:30 p.m.

KEY MOMENTS
• Penn State jumped to a 2-0 first-inning lead on a homer from Destiny Weber, as she also brought in Claire Swedberg.
• IU cut the deficit in half in the following inning, sparked by a leadoff double by sophomore Grayson Radciffe to left field. After junior Katie Lacefield moved her over on a sacrifice bunt, the Hoosiers continued their small-ball approach as junior Bella Norton laid down the squeeze, allowing Radcliffe to score from third.
• Indiana continued the approach in the third, scoring three runs to take a 4-2 lead. First, freshman Tete Hart laid down a bunt single before stealing second. Sophomore Taylor Lambert followed that up with a bunt single of her own before the two executed a double steal as Hart took home to tie the game at 2-2. On a sacrifice bunt attempt by junior Gabbi Jenkins, the Penn State second fielder missed the throw, giving enough time for Lambert to score. The final run of the frame came on an RBI single by sophomore Maddie Westmoreland.
• Junior Emily Goodin stepped into the circle in the top of the fifth to relieve Tara Trainer and did not allow a single baserunner in the final 3.0 frames. Goodin collected a pair of strikeouts in her second save of the year.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Trainer earned the win, tossing 4.0 frames and allowing just two hits and striking out four. She now sits at 801 career strikeouts, just the second pitcher in Indiana history to surpass the 800 mark. She improves her season record to 26-10, the fifth most wins in a single season in the IU record books.
• IU stole four bases on the day, pushing the season total to 141 and inching closer to the single-season Big Ten record of 144 set by Purdue in 2010.
• The win marks the second season in a row the Hoosiers have won their Big Ten Tournament opener and the third time in four years.
• IU improves to 36-10 on the season while Penn State concludes the year with a 24-32 record.

HEAD COACH SHONDA STANTON
"What a tremendous job by the staff to make this tournament get off to a great start. We had a fantastic crowd and showcased the beautiful facility we have here. Tara had a slow start but she settled in and stayed the course. Goodin then came in and shut the door, really pleased with how she pitched tonight. Offensively – we executed, whether it was a double steal, laying down the bunt and playing small ball. We did a tremendous job of sticking to our identity and being gritty."

UP NEXT
• The Hoosiers return to action in Friday's quarterfinals against Northwestern, who is ranked No. 18 in the country and check in at No. 11 in this week's RPI.
• Northwestern leads the all-time series, 67-38, and took a 5-0 meeting earlier this season in a non-conference meeting at Andy Mohr Field in the Hoosier Classic. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Danielle Williams pitched all 7.0 innings of that matchup.